national development agency for collaborative arts
in social and community contexts
this is not an essay . it’s a reflexion . shards of reflection . tangents fragments pieces of shrapnel . a quiver of arrows . a loaded magazine . a memorandum . a thank you
I am a writer by trade and I strive for clarity but clarity might not be possible . some of this is chaos . chaos is the truth of my experience my feelings in the two weeks since the symposium . I had to work through it to achieve the calm train of thought expressed in the final piece . I almost cut everything else, but it felt dishonest . chaos is my truth . fear confusion delirium is my truth . I cut through mists of fear to establish a level tone of voice
if it’s all too much for you, my story, skip to the end . my thoughts on participation are sober and I hope useful, and open a solution space for our conversation to enter . I’ve tried to structure the intervening material as best I can . as a professional I try to be dispassionate and sober, but sometimes as an artist I feel forced to turn myself inside out and reveal the process, the turmoil and ferment that fuels growth and revelation . sometimes that’s what I need of civil space . I need it to be a place where it’s ok to feel awkward and exposed and confused
I’ve also tried to honour the wealth of material presented, which included sober selfexamination, invaluable research, polemic, and most of all the fruits of experience, hard work and dedication . I offer thanks . the words of others are presented in bold . please bear in mind that these are notes streamed and edited and hybridised to compose a highly subjective transmission . I did not make recordings
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Arts and Civil Society Symposium
Kevin Murphy
Voluntary Arts Ireland Chief Officer Kevin Murphy introducing the Create and Voluntary Arts Ireland Arts and Civil Society Symposium, 20 and 21 October 2011, Christchurch, Triskel Arts Centre, Cork.
Pat Cooke
Defining Participation and Practice - Policy Perspectives. Martin Drury, Pat Cooke, Marian Fitzgibbon, Pauline Conroy. Chair: Fiona Kearney.
Pauline Conroy
Participation and Practice
Defining Participation and Practice – Policy Perspectives panel. Seated left to right: Martin Drury, Pat Cooke, Fiona Kearney (Chair), Marian Fitzgibbon, Pauline Conroy.
Sarah Tuck, Dr Anthony Downey
Create Director Sarah Tuck introducing the keynote address by Dr Anthony Downey.
Engaging Communities debate
Engaging Communities – The Permeable Institution. One of three concurrent LAB Debates. Left to right: Lisa Moran, Topher Campbell, Declan McGonagle (Chair), Tom Creed, William Ring.
LAB Reports panel
LAB Reports panel. Left to right: Liz Burns, Robin Simpson, Tony Fegan (Chair), Declan McGonagle.
Cultural and Civic Space
Rethinking Cultural and Civic Space. Pictured (left to right): Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, Annette Moloney, Bernadette Quinn (Chair).
Annette Moloney
Rethinking Cultural and Civic Space. Pictured (left to right): Annette Moloney (presenting), Bernadette Quinn (Chair), Frank McDonald, Faisal Abdu’ Allah.
Arts, Civil Society and Crisis
Arts, Civil Society and Crisis panel. Pictured (left to right): Augustine Zenakos, Carlota Álvarez Basso, Daniel Jewesbury (chair), Gabriel Gbadamosi, Silvana Carotenuto.
Augustine Zenakos
Augustine Zenakos
Fearghus Ó Conchúir
Nuno Sacramento
Arts, Civil Society and Crisis. Pictured: Daniel Jewesbury (chair), Nuno Sacramento. Arts and Civil Society Symposium, Cork, October 20-21, 2011. All photos: Susan Walsh.
Create volunteers
Christian Buchner, Katia Rush-Hall (Symposium Coordinator), Aoife O'Leary, Pamela Murray. All photos: Susan Walsh.
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